Cake Poker Sued
Ryan Bennett and Francois Piette who were a key part in the creation of Cake Poker are suing the company, feeling that they were unfairly compensated for their work. The two formed a company called Legacy Entertainment and were the brains behind a project called the Legacy Project. The two men eventually met and discussed with a man named Nicholaus Mellios who is a defendant in the upcoming case. After months of discussion Piette and Bennett unveiled Legacy Project to Mellios and Yummy Interactive was granted 80% ownership of the newly formed company called LegacyPoker.com.
Legacy Entertainment (Bennett and Piette) were granted the remaining 20%. After much hard work and insight into the new project, Mellios eventually kicked the two from his team and ceased conversation. Some dividends were given to the Legacy Entertainment owners but they feel it is not anywhere near enough especially because Cake Poker is still using their original idea. This case is really beginning to look like Piette and Bennett will receive millions of dollars from Cake Poker as compensation.
Government Seizing
Disputably the biggest and most shocking news of the week has been the fact that the US Government has seized the domain names belonging to PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, UB.com, and Absolute Poker. According to the government, the founders of Absolute Poker and Full Tilt are being charged with things infractions such as bank fraud, money laundering, and multiple illegal gambling offenses. Now when you attempt to surf to one of these sites there is a message that appears and informs you of the illegality of online gambling. It also states the penalties for those caught participating in or operating any online gambling entities. These government seizures have left a lot of poker players in the US wondering what their next move is going to be.
Regulated Online Poker in DC
Not everything is bad for online poker in the US this week. For folks in the District of Columbia a bill that was under a period of time where objections could be passed, passed without any objections. Because of that the District of Columbia is the first jurisdiction in the US to offer legally regulated online poker. Of course you can only play online poker within the jurisdiction and at first most places that will offer online services are going to be places like bars and hotels. With time it is expected that the new software that is being provided by Intralot will start a regulated system like no one has ever seen before. With the passing of the bill in DC, it is hoped that other places in the country also will pass similar bills.
Looking Forward
In the week ahead, American poker players have a lot to be looking forward to and a lot to be aprehensive about. With all of the problems surfacing about online poker in the US this week, poker players all over the country are hoping for some better news this week. A lot of sites are changing their domain names and changing the way American players can handle their funds and even play poker on the site. Most sites are simply turning away from the US market as all the trouble is simply not worth it for them. Others may look to fight the government. Expect many more headlines coming from this general arena as well as a few new ongoing promotions to talk about in the week ahead.
